In a Wednesday hearing on the management of spent nuclear fuel in the House Energy & Commerce Committee — no Nevadans are members — leaders took turns lamenting that the Yucca site, first chosen as the sole site in 1987 and approved for funding in 2002, still houses no nuclear waste due to the power of multiple generations of Nevada politicians.

The nation needs to double the size of its electric grid to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and renewable energy production in Nevada is critical to helping the nation get there.

Nevada is asking the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to revisit the issue of Yucca Mountain so the state can make its case to close the suspended licensing process.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced legislation Tuesday that would require consent from state, local and tribal governments to construct a national nuclear waste repository, including at Yucca Mountain about 90 miles Northwest of Las Vegas.

Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said Tuesday that he has not taken any steps to identify federal funds that could be denied to Nevada following President Donald Trump’s tweet last month threatening the state should it go forward with a vote-by-mail plan.

Congress last week quickly approved an $8.3 billion emergency spending package to help contain the spread of the coronavirus around the nation, including in Nevada, which reported its first case Thursday.

Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette sought to reassure Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on Tuesday that the Department of Energy plans to seek alternatives to storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, but he stopped short of backing an effort to change the law designating the site for a national repository.

The Senate last week failed to advance two GOP-drafted bills to restrict abortion while the House approved legislation to curtail youth smoking despite concern that a provision banning menthol-flavored cigarettes would enable law enforcement to target the black community.

President Donald Trump Monday unveiled his $4.8 trillion fiscal 2021 budget blueprint, which included no funding to build a national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain and signaled an interest in finding an alternative to the project.

The Senate last week wrapped up its impeachment trial by acquitting President Donald Trump as the House approved measures to revamp the labor laws, provide $4.6 billion for Puerto Rico earthquake recovery and disapprove of a White House plan to scale back Medicaid spending.

The House concluded two weeks of public impeachment hearings as Congress approved a stopgap spending measure last week to keep the government funded through Dec. 20

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation that would restart the licensing process for building a national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, but the measure, which is opposed by the state’s congressional delegation, is not expected to get a vote on the House floor.

House proponents of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain are unwilling to negotiate with members of the state’s congressional delegation over whether to give the state veto power over building the repository. 

The House approved a $733 billion defense policy bill last week as the Senate continued to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominations, including Daniel Bress to join U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The fire burning up what’s left of the relationship between Nevada and the Department of Energy got another log thrown in when the DOE revealed it sent shipments of radioactive waste over six years to the Nevada National Security Site that did not meet disposal requirements.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto has received assurances from the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that she would consider changes to nuclear waste legislation that would protect Nevada from remaining the default site for a national repository.

The House last week approved a nearly $1 trillion appropriation package, which Nevada Democrats praised for not including any funding for storing nuclear waste in the state, and also opened debate on a second $383 billion package that includes $86.6 billion for transportation programs.

Nevada’s congressional Democrats managed to marshal their allies to defeat an effort to hold a vote to fund the licensing of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain as part of House consideration of a package of five appropriations bills that includes funding for the Department of Energy.

The stalemate over building a national nuclear waste repository in Nevada could possibly be overcome if the Department of Energy was no longer the lead federal agency on the project, experts and members of Congress suggested at a House nuclear waste hearing.